


raindrops in a thunderstorm

by imposterhuman



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Anniversaries, BAMF Tony Stark, Bets & Wagers, Date Night, Developing Relationship, Doctor Dad, Drabbles, Dum-E - Freeform, Established Relationship, Explosions, Fire, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, Intervention, IronStrange, Irondad, Italian Tony, Lullabies, M/M, Nightmares, Pepper Potts Is a Good Bro, Peter is a Little Shit, Pining, Portals, Pranks, Sassy Peter Parker, Science, Singing, Stephen is tired, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange parenting Peter Parker | Supremefamily | Strange Family, appliances, improper installation of ais into kitchen appliances, kitchen disasters, lab safety, magic!, peter cant cook, sciencing the shit outta magic, spiderson, stephen is Done with tony's shit, tony cant cook
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-08-29 01:55:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 4,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16734828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imposterhuman/pseuds/imposterhuman
Summary: disconnected drabbles about tony stark and stephen strangeor, my excuse to write ironstrange fluff





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> heh look at me go, ignoring my other fics and starting something new
> 
> im on an ironstrange kick right now, so this will probably be updated pretty frequently (but no promises!)
> 
> prompt for this one: "stepped inside your fairy circle and now I’m trapped stop fucking laughing I s2g god dammit stoP-" adapted for ironstrange

“Get me out of here,” Tony grumbled. “I don’t want to be stuck in one of your stupid hula hoops forever.”

 

“I’m not sure how you managed to get stuck in a summoning circle,” Stephen said dryly, but he was clearly restraining laughter. “I don't even know how you got  _ in  _ there, it's warded.”

 

“What can I say, I’m special,” Tony deadpanned. “Now get me out of here!”

 

Stephen grimaced. “About that…” he trailed off.

 

“No,” Tony said. “No fucking way. I have shit to do, Doctor Wizard, get me out of here.”

 

“In my defense,” Stephen said hastily. “It's an extra strong circle. We were going to summon something pretty powerful.”

 

“I hate you,” Tony announced. “I hate you, I hate magic, and I’m going to call Pepper and have her sue you. For emotional distress.”

 

Stephen raised a skeptical eyebrow and hid his smirk as Tony dialed Pepper. 

 

“Pep? Light of my life? My strawberry? Fuck, you’re allergic to strawberries, aren’t you…” he trailed off, listening to her. “Yeah, Stephen trapped me in a summoning circle. Yes, I want to sue. You can’t do that! I did not make you CEO for this. Oh, come on, it isn’t like that! Yes, I’m alone in the circle, shut up. Fine,” He huffed angrily. “You’re on speaker.”

 

“Stephen?” Pepper’s voice rang out. “You’re in no danger of a lawsuit, keep him as long as you want. Really, I can forge his signature, you don’t have to return him.”

 

Stephen laughed. “Thanks, Pepper,” he said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

“And Tony?” Pepper said, saccharine sweet. “Tell him.” The dial tone sounded, indicating Pepper had hung up.

 

“What did she want you to tell me?” Stephen asked, genuinely curious. 

 

“Nothing,” Tony mumbled, turning a bright shade of red.

 

“Oh, really?” Stephen asked.

 

“Yes, really,” Tony stuck out his tongue at Stephen. “Now get me out of here!”

 

Stephen huffed. “Give me some time to find the counter spell. Summoning circles weren’t exactly made to be broken, you know.”

 

Tony sighed dramatically, but kept his mouth shut. He pulled out his phone and started fiddling.

 

Twenty minutes later, a minor explosion rocked the Sanctum. When the dust cleared, one guilty Tony was standing in the remains of what was a summoning circle.

 

“How?” Stephen demanded. “You literally had a cell phone! That’s it!”

 

“I’m Tony Fucking Stark,” Tony replied with a grin. “Explosions are kinda my thing.”

 

“How’d you know that would work?” Stephen pressed. 

 

Tony shrugged. “I didn’t. But it was better than sitting around watching you read dusty old books.”

 

“You’re paying for the damage,” Stephen said with a sigh.

 

“How about I pay you back with dinner?” Tony asked, no joke in his tone. Stephen looked at him, astonished, so the other man went on. “I mean, you don’t have to, I’ll pay for the damages anyway, I just thought-”

 

Stephen cut him off with a chaste kiss. “Dinner sounds good,” he said. “I know a great Thai place.”

 

“I’m not portalling to Thailand on the first date,” Tony groaned. “Weird magic stuff is for the third date or beyond. Now, I have to call Pepper so she’ll stop harassing me about  _ feelings _ .”

 

Stephen laughed out loud, ignoring the indignant look on Tony’s face. “Tell her thank you, from me.”

 

“Oh, fuck you,” Tony said jokingly as he walked out.

 

“Third date or beyond, Stark!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: "i have a phd, i should be able to figure this out!"

“I have a PhD, I should be able to figure this out,” Stephen whined, poking at Tony’s semi-sentient coffee machine. (So  _ maybe  _ he put an AI in it one day after a lab binge. And  _ maybe  _ the AI was a brat and didn’t like Stephen. But that wasn’t Tony’s fault, really. Stephen did try to use magic on it.)

 

“Poor baby,” Tony said sweetly, caressing his coffee maker. “Did the big bad wizard try to use magic on you again?”

 

“I am not the bad guy here,” Stephen pointed out, somewhat awkwardly. Tony was stroking the side of the coffee machine in a way that was making Stephen a little hot around the collar.

 

“You tried to magic my coffee machine,” Tony retorted. “That’s villainy at its finest.”

 

“I thought villainy at its finest was animating giant squids?” Stephen said innocently. “That’s what you said when you were forcing me to magic the slime out of your suit joints.”

 

“I changed my mind, Dumbledore, it happens,” Tony huffed. “Just for that, you don’t get any coffee.”

 

“I will magic all of your clothing the most garish shade of pink imaginable,” Stephen threatened.

 

Tony smirked, taking a long sip of his coffee. “I look good in pink, darling.”

 

“Fine,” said Stephen, smiling evilly. “Then I’ll repaint your suit to look like  _ Iron Patriot. _ ”

 

“War Machine!” Tony replied indignantly. “Iron Patriot is a bullshit name and I’ll fight this until I die, Stephen.”

 

“Give me coffee, and it won’t come to that,” Stephen’s voice was saccharine sweet. Tony narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

 

“Fine,” he said, handing over a steaming mug, “But if my suit is any other colors I will program every appliance in this house to reject you.”

 

Stephen leaned in to take the coffee and stole a quick kiss from Tony’s lips. “I don’t doubt it,” he said, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. Then he portalled away, leaving a stunned Tony in his wake. 

 

“FRIDAY,” Tony called. “What color is my suit?”

 

“You don’t want to know, Boss.”

 

“Start on the appliances, Fri,” Tony announced. “This means war.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt me!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt by UniversalPie: “I have a prompt, but I feel like it works better in a song, if it works for you? It's called 'A Night Like This' by Caro Emerald. I dunno, just like a perfect date night between the two? And they're like really worried about appearances or date plans, so they try super hard to do everything right”

Tony was massively freaking out.

 

It was his and Stephen’s first anniversary, and he wanted it to be perfect, so he had meticulously planned a date. He had even had  _ Pepper  _ help him with planning (and if that wasn’t serious, what was?). Together, they had brainstormed something perfect and romantic and wonderful.

 

Or it would be, if Tony could stop freaking out.

 

Everything had been going great so far; Him and Stephen had made it to the restaurant on time, Stephen looked  _ gorgeous _ , but Tony couldn’t shake the thought that something was going to go wrong and Stephen would leave him and  _ oh god why couldn’t he breathe- _

 

“Easy, Tony,” Stephen’s hand was warm where it gripped his own. “Breathe for me, that’s it.”

 

Tony took a deep breath and tried to steady his racing heart. “Sorry,” he croaked out. “Wanted this to be perfect.” He held Stephen’s wrist gently, feeling the steady pulse there.

 

He wasn’t expecting Stephen to laugh. “You freaked out before I could,” Stephen admitted. “I was on the verge of panicking just now, thinking that I should’ve helped more with planning, and maybe you were mad at me for having to do all the work.”

 

Tony shook his head vehemently. “Not mad at you,” he said. “I asked to plan this, you know that. I just wanted it to be perfect, and now…”

 

“Look at me,” Stephen said, tipping Tony’s chin up lightly with one finger. “No matter what we do, as long as you’re here, it’s perfect to me. Even if we were just sitting at home eating pizza, it’d be a perfect date.”

 

“Sap,” Tony replied.

 

“Only for you,” Stephen smiled at him.

 

“I love you, Stephen,” Tony’s expression was open, unguarded. He hadn’t said those three words to Stephen before, not wanting to risk Stephen taking his heart and leaving (even though he knew,  _ he knew _ , Stephen wouldn’t do that to him, it was hard to shake the memories of people past who did).

 

“I love you, too,” Stephen said, gently pressing their lips together in a chaste kiss.

 

\---

 

Some hours later, when they were both lying in bed, Stephen rolled over to face Tony.

 

“Thank you for the perfect date,” he whispered.

 

“Even though I freaked out halfway through?” Tony asked nervously. “Didn’t that ruin it?”

 

“Like I told you, you were there, so it was perfect.”

 

“Sap,” Tony whispered back. “I love you.”

 

“I love you, too.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope i lived up to your prompt! (nice song, by the way!)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> request by biana for supremefamily, here it is!

Stephen and Tony were relaxing on the couch, watching TV, when a large  _ crash!  _ and a scream from the kitchen had them bolting out of their seats. The only person in the kitchen was Peter, last time they checked.

 

“Pete?” Tony called. “Are you okay? What happened?”

 

Stephen was right behind him. “Peter? Is everything alright?” 

 

They rounded the corner leading to the kitchen and stopped dead. Peter was sitting on the ceiling, using the fire extinguisher on the microwave, which was ablaze. There were pots and pans on the ground, but only one of them was on fire.

 

“I’m fine!” Peter said sheepishly. “I was trying to cook, and well…”

 

“What were you trying to cook?” Tony scoffed good naturedly. “Everyone in this house?”

 

Peter blushed and scowled. “The operative word here is trying, Mr. Stark.”

 

Stephen ignored their bickering and magically put out the fires. “How did you manage this?” he asked Peter.

 

“Funny story, actually,” Peter said, fidgeting. “So, you know how metal isn’t supposed to go in the microwave? Well, I didn’t! But hey, now I do. That’s science, am I right?”

 

“It’s science only if you write it down,” Tony said, smiling at his pseudo-son’s antics. “Now, get down here and clean this up.”

 

Peter did a (completely unnecessary) flip and landed on the ground. “I did the cooking, shouldn’t someone else do the cleaning?” He turned on his puppy dog eyes, to which Stephen was immune.

 

“Peter. Clean up,” he said, a smile playing at his lips. “What were you even making?”

 

“Well,” said Peter, nervous. “It’s you and Mr. Stark’s anniversary, right? I was going to make a cake for you guys.”

 

Tony frowned. “There’s no microwave involved in making cake,” he said.

 

“I broke the oven,” Peter replied with a shrug.

 

“Peter!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt me!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: mutual pining and intervention

“I can’t decide whether I hate you or I love you,” Tony said bluntly to Stephen. The pair were in Tony’s lab, working on a way to combine both their disciplines. Bruce was given the unfortunate task of watching the two and making sure they didn’t blow anything up, or banish each other to hell (it had happened once, and Tony’s revenge on Stephen was swift and unforgiving. The sorcerer did look remarkably less intimidating with hot pink streaks in his hair…).

 

“Why not both?” Stephen replied with a shrug, concealing a faint blush from the engineer. That was another thing- their constant flirting. It drove Bruce and the others up the wall, because both men were of the opinion that the other didn’t actually like them, that they were just flirty by nature. Both of them then pined about the other to their friends, leading to a lot of complaining on the parts of Bruce, Rhodey, and Wong. The three had a group chat and weekly meetings where they bitched about the not-quite-couple and planned how to get them together.

 

It had been weeks of trying, and Bruce was getting fed up with their obliviousness.

 

“Hey, Tony,” Bruce called across the lab, interrupting more flirting. “Are you free tonight?”

 

“Yeah,” Tony said, confused. “Why? What’s up?”

 

Bruce ignored him. “Stephen, I’m assuming you’re not busy either?”

 

“I’m not,” Stephen frowned. “Does that matter, though?”

 

“Yep!” Bruce said, clapping his hands once. “Because I am busy. So, you two go out without me and enjoy your date!” Bruce ran out of the lab before either of the blushing men cold catch him and question him.

 

\---

 

“So,” Tony.

 

“Do you want to?” Stephen said at the same time. “Shit, you go first.”

 

Tony got a gleam in his eye. “No, you,” he said with a slow smile.

 

“Do you want to go out tonight?” Stephen cleared his throat. “Like, on a date?”

 

“I’d love to,” Tony said, suaveness abandoning him. “Italian?”

 

“Only if you’re buying,” Stephen joked, stepping closer to Tony. Their lips were almost touching when Tony spoke up again. 

 

“We really should thank Bruce,” he whispered.

 

“I’m about to kiss you and you’re talking about Bruce?” Stephen arched a delicate eyebrow.

 

“Shutting up, kiss away.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this in like 10 mins rip me i guess
> 
> how was it?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a quick drabble because im bored but dont feel like working on my other fics

 

Rhodey strode into the common room, eyes on a tablet in front of him.

 

“Do you know what Strange is doing right now?” he asked Wong, who was sitting on one of the sofas “I have some questions about a magic situation that has come up in Iowa, of all places.”

 

“He’s doing something stupid,” Wong said wisely. “Probably pining after Stark, or complaining about Stark, or hanging out with Stark looking like a kicked puppy.”

 

“Yours, too?” Rhodey groaned. “Tony won’t shut up about  _ Stephen this  _ or  _ Stephen that _ . They’re practically domestic! I asked how long they were dating for, and Tony said they weren’t. Can you believe it?”

 

“I can,” Wong replied grimly. “Stephen is the same way. That’s how I know he’s doing something stupid.”

 

Tony walked into the room while the pair was laughing, hickies clearly visible on his neck. 

 

“Hi, stupid,” Rhodey said with a shit-eating grin. He and Wong shared a look. “How’s Strange?”

 

“Hot as ever,” Tony shot back. “I was just getting coffee for us. Can’t stay and chat, though, I have a hot sorcerer in my bed and I plan to take full advantage of that.”

 

Tony grinned at the mildly disgusted looks on both Rhodey and Wong’s faces.

 

That’d teach Rhodey to call him stupid.

 

When Tony walked out, Wong groaned loudly. “How much do I owe you?” he asked, resigned.

 

Rhodey held out a hand, a smug look on his face. “I believe that you bet $20 that they wouldn’t get together for another month,” he answered. 

 

Wong handed over the money in silence.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> peter is a little shit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt by shattered_shadows: Ooh, can you do a chapter where Peter gives Strange a hard time and Tony's in the background crying from laughter?
> 
> this is loosely inspired by a conversation i had with my brother the other day, that little shit

"Hello, Mr. Stark! Hi, Doctor Wizard!" Peter called, dropping his bag on the kitchen counter.

 

“How was school?” Tony said, reaching over and ruffling Peter’s hair. Peter leaned into the affection for a minute before replying.

 

“It was good,” he said. “I didn’t blow anything up in chemistry! That makes, like, ten days!” Peter got a sly grin on his face. “Although, I did have an interesting health class…” he led.

 

“Oh, yeah?” Stephen came into the kitchen, cloak floating behind him. “What about?”

  
  
Tony, recognizing _exactly_ what was about to happen, backed out of the kitchen. “Fri, record this,” he hissed, not wanting to spoil Peter’s fun.

 

“I just have some questions,” Peter said hesitantly. “About… you know.”

 

“What?” Stephen prompted gently. Then he blushed, understanding. “...Oh.”

 

“Since you’re a doctor, you can help, right?” Peter’s voice was filled with hope, and if he wasn’t such a little shit, Tony might’ve been fooled.

 

“I… um, isn’t it better to ask Tony this?” Stephen tried to deflect. Peter gave him the puppy dog eyes, so he acquiesced. “Fine,” he said. “So, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much… shit, I don’t know what I’m doing!” Peter had taken out a notepad and was pretending to take notes. Stephen’s jaw dropped. “You’re a little shit.”

 

“Keep going!” Peter said earnestly. “I want to get an A on the test!”

 

Tony’s laughter could be heard from the floor below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt me!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt by tezuka: "I'd like to read something with Tony singing to Stephen as a birthday present or something"
> 
> i didnt do a birthday, but i hope you like this!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops its been so long since i updated this sorry yall
> 
> ill get better i promise (i probably wont but its okay)

Stephen was shaking, body locked in the throes of a nightmare. He was on Titan, fighting Thanos with Tony. But this time, when Thanos stabbed his lover, he didn’t move to fight back. Stephen couldn’t move either, watching as Tony bled out in front of him. 

 

“Tony!” he screamed, voice raw and hoarse. 

 

The hands lightly stroking his hair were indistinguishable from the dream itself. Stephen figured it was Tony’s ghost shushing him softly.

 

“Hush, Stephen,” Tony said softly. He started to hum a small tune, settling Stephen’s mind. “ _ Penso che un sogno così non ritorni mai più, _ ” he sang. 

 

Stephen’s thrashing stilled a little at Tony’s soothing voice. “Tony,” he croaked in anguish.

 

“ _ Mi dipingevo le mani e la faccia di blu, poi d'improvviso venivo dal vento rapito, e incominciavo a volare nel cielo infinito _ ,” Tony’s singing voice was hoarse from sleep as he carried on the old song. “ _ Volare ho ho, cantare ho ho hoho, nel blu dipinto di blu, felice di stare lassù, e volavo, volavo felice, più in alto del sole ed ancora più su, mentre il mondo pian piano spariva lontano laggiù, una musica dolce suonava soltanto per me. _ ”

 

Stephen stilled, lulled by his lover’s song. The nightmare had disapated sometime during Tony’s song.

 

“Tony?” Stephen said blearily, rubbing sleep out of his eyes with shaking hands.

 

“Go back to sleep, love,” Tony’s gentle voice replied. 

 

Stephen complied, the foreign Italian words chasing away his nightmares for the rest of the night.

 

\---

 

_ Penso che un sogno così _

_ non ritorni mai più, _

_ mi dipingevo le mani _

_ e la faccia di blu, _

_ poi d'improvviso venivo _

_ dal vento rapito, _

_ e incominciavo a volare _

_ nel cielo infinito. _

_ Volare ho ho _

_ cantare ho ho hoho, _

_ nel blu dipinto di blu, _

_ felice di stare lassù, _

_ e volavo, volavo _

_ felice, più in alto del sole _

_ ed ancora più su, _

_ mentre il mondo pian piano _

_ spariva lontano laggiù, _

_ una musica dolce suonava _

_ soltanto per me. _

_ Volare ho ho _

_ cantare ho ho hoho _

_ nel blu dipinto di blu _

_ felice di stare lassù. _

_ Ma tutti i sogni _

_ nell'alba svaniscon perché, _

_ quando tramonta la luna _

_ li porta con se, _

_ ma io continuo a sognare _

_ negli occhi tuoi belli, _

_ che sono blu come un cielo _

_ trapunto di stelle. _

_ Volare ho ho _

_ cantare ho ho hoho, _

_ nel blu degli occhi tuoi blu, _

_ felice di stare quaggiù, _

_ e continuo a volare felice _

_ più in alto del sole _

_ ed ancora più su, _

_ mentre il mondo _

_ pian piano scompare _

_ negli occhi tuoi blu, _

_ la tua voce è una musica _

_ dolce che suona per me. _

_ Volare ho ho _

_ cantare ho ho hoho _

_ nel blu degli occhi tuoi blu, _

_ felice di stare quaggiù, _

_ nel blu degli occhi tuoi blu, _

_ felice di stare quaggiù _

_ con te... _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the song is volare (or nel blu dipinto di blu)
> 
> https://lyricstranslate.com/en/domenico-modugno-volare-lyrics.html - italian lyrics  
> https://lyricstranslate.com/en/nel-blu-dipinto-di-blu-blue-painted-blue.html -english translation
> 
> i just thought it was a sweet song to use
> 
> comments/kudos/prompts always appreciated!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lab safety is important, tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quotes from incorrect-ironstrange on tumblr
> 
> wanted to type something up because im going to be wifi-less (probably) until jan 2, so im trying to throw in updates for everything

“Tony,” Stephen chided. “Lab safety.”

 

“You know what?” Tony spun around, mischief in his eyes. “I’m going to buy you straws, so you can go suck the fun out of something else.”

 

“I’m literally trying to keep you from blowing yourself up!” Stephen complained. “How does that make me the bad guy?”

 

“You’re standing in the way of  _ science _ !” Tony said with a wide sweep of his hands, accidentally knocking over his latest prototype. “... oops.”

 

The prototype clanged gently on the floor, resting for a minute. Stephen let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding; many of Tony’s prototypes were… volatile, to say the least. At least this one didn’t-

 

“Sorry?” Tony offered when the ringing in Stephen’s ears stopped. “In my defense, I really didn’t know that would happen.”

 

“What did you  _ think  _ would happen?” 

 

“Okay, so I made some mistakes,” Tony said placatingly. He tilted his head, considering. “I mean, I really  _ only  _ made mistakes here. But did it work out? Kind of!”

 

Stephen stared at Tony in shock. “It worked out not at all!” he gestured widely at the ruins of the prototype and the workbench.

 

Tony flushed. “Now I know what not to do before putting that in my chest?” he offered.

 

“I’m sorry, what?” Stephen practically screamed. “That was going to go in your body?”

 

Before Tony could dig himself a bigger hole to be buried in, DUM-E wheeled over angrily and started spraying the remains with a fire extinguisher.

 

“See, it has a use!” Tony said proudly. “DUM-E gets to work on his fire safety skills.”

 

Stephen gritted his teeth. “One of these days…”

 

_ BOOM! _

 

When the smoke cleared (for the second time!) Tony was gone. “I didn’t know it would react with fire extinguisher foam!” he was screaming as he ran.

 

Stephen sighed and conjured a portal. He had a boyfriend to kill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> howd i do?
> 
> prompts/comments/kudos make my day


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lab safety pt 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am on a Roll today, this is like my 3rd post
> 
> go me, writing on ao3 and ignoring my actual responsibilities!
> 
> enjoy

“Put your damn safety goggles on, you gremlin,” Rhodey grumbled, wheeling towards his friend and throwing a pair of unused goggles at him.

 

Tony blinked owlishly and tossed the goggles back. “Why would I do that?” he asked. “I’m already mostly done the potentially combustive part. There’s really no point in doing it now.”

 

Rhodey groaned. “Fine,” he said. “At least take some damn safety precautions, though. Safety rules exist for a reason.”

 

“Rules are for people without imagination,” Tony said breezily. He mixed something at his bench, not flinching when it caused a minor explosion. “Also, I do what I want.”

 

“I’m telling Stephen,” Rhodey played his trump card with a victorious smirk. He started to roll away, relishing in the horrified look on Tony’s face.

 

“No, wait!” he shouted, “I’ll put on the goggles! Just don’t tell Stephen, he gets all-”

 

“I get all what, Tony?” Stephen portaled in, much to Tony’s chagrin and Rhodey’s happiness. 

 

“No portals in the lab while I’m working with explosives,” Tony chided, trying to change the subject.

 

Stephen just leveled him with an unimpressed look. “No working with explosives without any safety gear.”

 

“Oh, c’mon,” Tony complained. “When’s the last time I blew anything up by accident?”

 

“Yesterday,” Stephen shot back.

 

“This morning, at breakfast,” Rhodey countered.

 

JARVIS even chimed in, “Approximately five minutes ago, Sir.”

 

Tony shook a wrench at them. “You’re all a bunch of traitors. J, you’re going to a community college. Rhodey, I want a refund, and Stephen, we’re breaking up.”

 

“So, we’re still on for dinner tonight?” Stephen proceeded to ignore everything Tony said.

 

“Did you not just hear me? Ugh-” Tony groaned. “You better make that Nepali dish I like or I’m leaving.”

 

They continued to bicker, Tony unconsciously putting on the safety goggles when Rhodey passed them to him. His mission accomplished, he wheeled out, leaving his friends to their fighting/flirting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how was it?
> 
> yall know what to do


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt by randomplotbunny: "How about one where Tony, on a science binge, somehow reverse engineers the Sling Ring to make a science based version of it integrated into his Suit. But after sleeping off the binge exhaustion neither he or Stephen can figure out how it actually works, even when looking over the security tapes of it being built and staring at the schematics, they only know that it does."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this has been sitting in my wips for awhile, i kept meaning to make it longer, but i figure im never going to actually do that so i should just post it
> 
> i hope i lived up to the prompt!

Tony ran out of the lab and barreled straight into Stephen, who was cooking in the kitchen. There was a manic gleam in his eyes, indicative of too little sleep and too much inventing. “Guess what!” he hollered. “I figured out your stupid magic! And scienced it!”

 

“I’m sure you did, honey,” Stephen replied, checking out the dark circles under the engineer’s eyes with a doctor's critical gaze. “How long has it been since you slept?”

 

Tony paused, considering. “I had a really long blink, like, three days ago,” he said finally. “But that’s so not the point. I figured out your portal thing!”

 

Stephen arched an eyebrow. “Did you?” he asked mildly. “I’m sure you can show me after you sleep.”

 

“Fine,” Tony huffed, sensing defeat. “Prepare to be amazed in three to four hours.”

 

“At least six, Tony, or I’m locking down the lab!”

 

Exactly six hours and thirty three minutes later, Tony dragged Stephen down to the lab.

 

“Ta da!” he said, standing in the Stark performance pose, arms spread wide. “I have successfully reverse engineered magic!”

 

Next to where Tony was standing, an arc-reactor blue ring hovered in the air. Through the ring, Stephen could see Tony’s Malibu house. 

 

“Holy shit,” Stephen breathed. “How?”

 

Tony scratched the back of his neck, looking mildly embarrassed. “I’m not actually sure,” he admitted. “I’ve gone over the schematics a hundred times, reviewed the security footage, but nothing makes sense. Before I activated it, there’s a seventeen minute glitch in the footage and FRIDAY, where nothing I said or did was recorded.”

 

“Tony,” Stephen said carefully. “Did you… did you break science?”

 

“Maybe?”

 

“Tony!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thoughts?
> 
> prompts/comments/kudos make me a happy gal


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> adventures in cooking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im marking this as the end of this story because i have too many unfinished stories right now, and its stressing me out a little, but im not necessarily done with this. ill probably add to it if i write something that doesnt fit in outtakes (my other ironstrange drabble set), but no promises!
> 
> sorry yall :(
> 
> enjoy some fluff though, ft dum-e because hes my son

Stephen walked into the kitchen, sniffing the air critically. Tony had said that he’d be cooking, som Italian dish that Maria used to make, for date night. Stephen had exactly no faith in Tony’s cooking abilities, if he was being honest. The man was a genius, capable of almost anything, except cooking. Tony had burned water helping Stephen at one point. 

 

Still, when Tony had volunteered, Stephen had accepted out of curiosity. Maybe Tony was better at cooking Italian than Chinese, Indian, French, or Mexican. Maybe, but Stephen doubted it. 

 

At first glance, the kitchen looked like a disaster zone. Tony was standing in the center of a hurricane of pots and pans, smeared liberally with tomato sauce. DUM-E was beeping in the corner with a chef’s hat, claw holding a box of pasta. Tony was dancing along to AC/DC, humming as he fiddled with whatever was on the stove. 

 

Stephen sniffed again, hoping to catch a whiff of whatever Tony had made. Instead, he smelled smoke. Upon closer inspection, DUM-E’s beeps were terrified, the pot on the stove was smoking terribly, and Tony’s dancing was because his sleeve was on fire. 

 

“Tony,” Stephen ventured carefully. 

 

“Hey, Stephen!” Tony turned around, holding the pot behind his back. One hand waved DUM-E out of the room, ostensibly to grab his fire extinguisher. “Why are you home early?”

 

“I came to see if you needed help,” said Stephen, making a show of looking around. “Do you?”

 

“Not at all!” Tony looked vaguely guilty. “Everything is under control, as you can see. Bye! See you at dinner!”

 

The smoke behind Tony got thicker. “Tony,” Stephen said sternly. “Is something burning?”

 

“Only my desire for you,” Tony batted his eyelashes, putting on his best bedroom eyes. The tomato sauce in his hair undermined the effect, though. 

 

The pot fully lit up, catching some of the counter on fire, too. 

 

“ _ The kitchen is on fire, Tony! _ ” Stephen hissed, but there was a smile playing on his lips. Before he could magic it out, DUM-E wheeled back in, beeping victoriously. 

 

“DUM-E, buddy, no, Stephen’s got it,” Tony tried in vain. The robot ignored him, spinning in a circle and dousing  _ everything  _ in foam. “My pasta,” Tony moaned sadly. 

 

“Is that what that was?” Stephen arched an eyebrow, trying to look as dignified as possible while dripping with fire extinguisher foam. 

 

“Shut up,” Tony grumbled, but there was no heat to it. “Seriously, DUM-E, community college. In  _ Jersey. _ ” 

 

Stephen chuckled, grabbing Tony’s hand to lead them to the bathroom. “Want to order a pizza?”

 

Tony sighed, accepting defeat. “Fine,” he conceded. “But none of your weird crap. Just a normal pizza.”

 

Behind them, DUM-E cheeped happily, spraying the kitchen some more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope yall like it :)

**Author's Note:**

> whatd you think?
> 
> prompts welcome! like tbh whatever you prompt ill probably write
> 
> comments and kudos make me a happy gal


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